What They Say
DSCC published a blog outlining how the current low fab utilisation in the LCD business and weak demand is forcing panel makers to review their capacity plans, or at least their timing. The firm said that ,eaningful delays in PO timing, move-in timing, install timing or MP timing were added this quarter to investments at:
- BOE B12;
- BOE B16;
- China Star T8;
- Tianma TM18;
- SDC T8 IT Phase 1, with Phase 2 pulled in;
- China Star T5 Phase 2;
- China Star T9;
- Sharp SIO Phase 8.
The firm did pull in SDC’s OLED A4 L7-2 Phase 2 by nine months as they moved up their approval decision to September and this G6 expansion will likely target the IT market along with LGD’s AP5 line with both lines pursuing tandem stacks.
It also moved a couple of fabs out of its fab schedules to what we call Probability E or Watch List, which aren’t represented in our forecast. In this case, these moves are mostly due to worsening financial situations at these particular companies.
The firm also published its view of FPD fab utilisation which it expects to drop to 73%. The blog reported that in Q2’22, total TFT input for all display makers was down 6% Q/Q and down 2% Y/Y at 82.8M square metres, and in the current Q3’22 DSCC expects total TFT input to be down another 11% Q/Q and 15% Y/Y to 74.0M square metres.
The article also looks at utilisation forecasts by region, technology and panel maker. LCD utilisation is expected to stay under 70% by the end of the year.
What We Think
It’s interesting to see that DSCC thinks that the Samsung decision on a G6 IT fab will now be made in September. If you are interested in finance, DSCC published a preview of expected earnings announcements, with LGD due to release data this week. (BR)
